Why Private Sector was Excluded From the Economic Team – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari says he excluded private sector players from his administration’s economic management team in order to prevent them from steering government policies to suit their own “narrow interests.”In his response to those accusing him of not having an economic management team, Buhari said he already had one headed by his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, quoted Buhari as saying this in an exclusive interview in The Interview magazine.Akande made the excerpts from the interview available to State House correspondents yesterday.The president said while his government would still listen to everyone, it was averse to making private sector individuals members of the National Economic Management Team (NEMT).“We will listen to everybody, but we are averse to economic teams whose private sector members frequently steer government policy to suit their own narrow interests rather than the over-all national interest,” he said.Asked if he thought he needed an economic management having been criticised for not having one, Buhari responded: “What do they mean by team? The vice president heads our economic management team.